


Plodding Towards Life

by Estirose



Category: Kamen Rider Kabuto
Genre: Gen, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-12
Updated: 2006-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 01:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2292200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami tries a desperate tactic to get TheBee to leave him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plodding Towards Life

Kagami Arata wished he had known what would happen when he grabbed Yagaruma's Zector. At the time, he'd been desperate; partly because of the Worms surrounding both him and the members of Shadow that were protecting Yagaruma, and partly because of his own desire to upstage Tendou.

He'd left it behind after a firefight no more than a day later.

Tendou had a vested interest to keep Kagami in ZECT's good graces; however, now, Kagami knew that being ZECT's non-rogue Rider was not the way to go. ZECT wasn't going to allow Tendou to run about without being a ZECT agent. Kagami wasn't about to kill the other Rider, and he knew it was useless to try to recruit Tendou. Therefore, Kagami wasn't a Rider anymore.

Depressingly, the tattoo... brand... whatever he'd mysteriously received shortly after taking over the TheBee powers was still there. He hoped the TheBee Zector had moved on, and the mark would just eventually fade. The Zectors were notoriously picky and their reasons for choosing one person over another unknown; The Kabuto Zector came only to Tendou's call, and the TheBee Zector had abandoned Yagaruma in the middle of a fight, probably because he'd done something that it didn't like when he was attacking Tendou.

He only hoped that it had understood that it was time to take - to pick - another Rider. One of the members of Shadow was best. Someone who was a trained fighter, somebody who could do what Kagami couldn't do. Somebody who wouldn't abandon it.

The unwelcome buzz of a bee interrupted Kagami's moody thoughts. He looked up to see the mobile portion of the TheBee Zector buzzing by his head. "No," he said, though he was sure that the Zector didn't understand what he said. The implacable bee-shaped machine buzzed around, waiting for him to pluck it out of the air and combine it with its wristband. "You probably have someone new now. Go to them."

But the machine remained, buzzing around his head expectantly. Kagami wondered if he'd be plagued with its appearance every time someone tried to activate the wristband, or whenever the Worms showed up.

He wondered if ZECT knew where its Zector had gone. Probably. Whether he was the TheBee's official Rider or not, he was the last known wielder. He'd be called and someone would demand that he turn over the TheBee Zector, not that he had any control over the matter.

His phone rang. Shoulders slumping in defeat, he answered it.

* * *

 

Kagami found himself on one of the overlooks at the ruined city below. Kageyama had reluctantly summoned him and given him the other half of the TheBee Zector, Kagami had smashed the Worms before anything disastrous had happened.

Kageyama had confirmed that they did have someone to take his place as TheBee, but the Zector hadn't accepted their new candidate yet. The unspoken meaning was that Kagami had better find a way to disassociate himself with the Zector fast, or Kageyama would do it for him. Not that his fellow ZECT member would likely kill him, but there was a good chance that his way of disassociating Kagami from the Zector would be less than pleasant.

Problem was, Kagami had no idea why the Zector had chosen him, much less how he could get it off his back, figuratively speaking. Actually, there was a way out of it, one so terrible that he could hardly contemplate it, but he was there contemplating it.

Tendou's death would have returned the Kabuto Zector into ZECT's hands. His death would do the same for the TheBee Zector. It wasn't like he was contributing a great deal to the war against the Worms. The Bistro La Salle could do without him, he'd disowned his father a long time ago, and Ryo was dead. Tendou might or might not mourn his passing.

His life was a ruin, just like the city below. Somehow, it felt like justice.

Kagami sat down and took off his shoes. With each lace that came out he felt like he was being freed.

And then the buzzing came again, just as he was going to climb the railing onto the wall. Another worm attack? It didn't matter, they could do without him. Tendou would save the day.

He would be dead.

The buzzing came closer, became angrier. Hand on the railing, he looked up at the Zector. He looked at it deliberately for a moment, hefted himself up, one foot shakily on the wall.

It zipped away. He could still hear it, but he couldn't see it. He lifted his second foot over the barrier and onto the wall.

And then the Zector stung him.

The energy was slight enough that he wasn't killed instantly, or even seriously wounded. The fact that he still was holding the railing gave him some stability as he was knocked down onto the ground.

As Kagami lay there, stunned from the Zector's sting, the Zector continued to hover over him. The message was loud and clear: he was the Chosen One for this Zector, and it wasn't going to let him go *that* easily.

"So, what do I do?" he asked, feeling fairly stupid for asking the Zector, which of course was incapable of answering, even if it understood the question. It seemed incapable of understanding human emotion; Kagami's problems with Kageyama and Tendou meant nothing to it. Only fighting the Worms with its Chosen One would do.

Going rogue was unthinkable. But it might be what he would have to do. Either that, or somehow find a way to deal with Kageyama and the Shadow troops.

Neither way was going to be easy, but it didn't look like he had a choice.

As the shock wore off, Kagami stuffed his feet into his shoes again, silently lacing them up. Only he could be plodding back towards life with an assistant in the form of a fanatical mechanical bee. He glared at it, walked towards the way out. 

The Zector silently followed.

-end


End file.
